Not as interesting as promised/written, but the characters and plot were good enough to keep me buckled down.

Think: Queer, Legally Blonde, and although I haven’t seen the show, someone told me it seemed like Glee without the singing? Basically: iconic.

High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend— senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.

Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.

Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.

Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.

I couldn’t put down Blaine for the Win and finished it in two sittings. The vibe of it reminds me of TJ Klune’s The Extraordinaries but without superpowers.

I was so eager to receive an ARC of this book, and it did not disappoint! From the start, I was hooked. Robbie Couch did it again!
It was only Legally-Blonde-hinted-predictable in the start, because after that it became Blaine’s own story, and it did a fantastic job of hinting as the inspiration while living as it’s own entity.
This will be a title I will read and reread several times.

This book was an absolute delight to read. It had tons of humor, and the characters, dialogue, and writing were all engaging and kept me wanting to turn to the next page. I read over half the book in one sitting, which is something I don't often do. Blaine just had such a fun personality that I didn't want to stop reading about him and his friends. The author did a great job of bringing the high school and student government experiences to life. It caused flashbacks to my own experiences running for class president, which were just as anxiety-ridden as Blaine's. lol. Speaking of anxiety, this book had such great mental health rep. Each character seemed to experience a different type of mental health issue, and it was great to see them all thriving (in their own ways) and learning to work together despite their issues and differences. The author was also good at weaving in these pretty serious mental health discussions without the book feeling too heavy or losing steam, which is a real testament to Couch's skill. The romance was delightfully slow-burn, and I honestly wanted more of it. The love interest was such an interesting character, and I would have loved to see more of his struggle with coming to terms with his feelings for Blaine. That is true of most of the secondary characters, though. I loved them all and wish the story could have focused a little more on them too, but I also understand that this was Blaine's story. That being said, I really loved Blaine's story and the focus on finding and developing your passion and place in life, even if it isn't what others might consider 'serious' or best. Blaine's willingness to take risks on new things and abandon them when he realized they aren't for him set a great example for how teens (and us older folks because growth is a lifelong thing) can successfully navigate the process of figuring out what best fits their personalities and goals. Overall, the only negative from this book was that it left me wanting more. So, I rate it 5 out of 5 stars!

Blaine has just been dumped by his boyfriend in a traumatic way: during their anniversary, in a fancy restaurant, when he was ready to be invited to his family's vacation, and the reason was that he wasn't serious. He then sees the light to getting him back—winning to be class president. But he didn't think how he was going to do it.

3.5, rounded up.

Although Blaine irritated me sometimes, it was in an endearing way. It actually made me wonder how many times have I been so focused on something I failed to notice the obvious happening right under my nose. Really, Blaine isn't a character you can hate. And save for his ex, I don't think I could hate any of the characters, even Blaine's rival in the election (among other things) has a cool side, I love how he's one of the first to endorse Blaine's campaign. They never hint it, but that's a romance I would have enjoyed a lot.

Talking about romance, even though it wasn't the possibility above, I loved the one that really is in the book. So cute! I like how organic (no pun intended) its development is, it just grows without you noticing it (well, I did notice it because I've read too many romances for my own good). It's not really hidden, but it's not on your face, the person is just there to be the romantic interest and that's all.

The election part was fun, it is the plot but the politics in it is not the focus. It really is an adventure, though, so it was exciting to read how Blaine progressed as a candidate.

The conclusion was also above my expectations, I feel the author went beyond what had to be done, and the result was good.

It's not super read, it's not the book people will talk for ages, I don't think it'll become a big reference in the genre, but it is a good read. If you're a fan of the genre, you shouldn't miss this to take your mind off things.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

So this was cute! I loved how lighthearted it was and the nostalgia it gave me from working on student government campaigns! Like those were the most dramatic things ever and they're the same in this, which I loved! Blaine was a fun character! I think it would've been nice to go a bit deeper with him about some of the anxiety he felt as that seemed like it was important to his character, but I loved what we did learn from him.
The progression of the story was nice as well. It was super fast paced. I appreciated how much we saw of Trish, Blaine's best friend. I feel like best friends are often watered down for the sake of romance in YA, but I think Trish got a great story right along with Blaine. I also appreciated Blaine's relationship with his aunt. She was sort of a surrogate parent for him while his parents were busy working and it was obvious their bond was super close.

I think what held me back from giving this a full 5 stars was just that we didn't go deep enough into the characters, I think? I already mentioned Blaine and his anxiety, but it would've been great to see more moments of him with Danny. Their relationship was quite cute and I wished we could've gotten a few more scenes with them! I also felt like some of the issues brought up in the book (like his parents working so much) resolved themselves pretty quickly? This was a fast paced book, which is fine, but I think it could've maybe been 20ish pages! Overall, a super cute and fast read that I'd totally reread again!

Blaine is a total sweetheart who wants nothing more than to win back the love of his terrible ex-boyfriend who doesn’t deserve him at all. I do acknowledge that I’m reading this book as adult, but I’d like to think Joey’s unsuitability is readily apparent to the target audience, but Blaine is too full of angst and longing to see the truth.

Running for senior class president against kids who have been involved with student government since elementary school is 100% a foolhardy scheme, but Blaine is determined to succeed. At the risk of sounding like a cliché, Blaine learns some important lessons about what his peers are going through and what they really need from their student leaders. And, even more importantly, Blaine figures out what he wants for himself and where his priorities lie.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting one of the twists, but it added an extra layer of delicious drama to the proceedings.

Blaine is an ideal protagonist because he isn’t perfect. He might see that as a flaw and one of the reasons he’s not a Serious Guy, but his imperfection is what makes him more realistic. He’s just out there trying to do his best, and even though he starts out with less than stellar motivation, his heart is in the right place.

I would absolutely recommend Blaine for the Win. This is a delightful contemporary YA with a queer take on the high school election trope. I enjoyed Couch’s book last year, but I think I liked this one even more.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/NetGalley.

This was such a fun time!

Blaine loves wearing bright colors and painting murals on the sides of local businesses, but when his posh boyfriend dumps him, saying he needs somebody more serious, Blaine decides to show his ex just how serious he is--by running for senior class president, despite no former experience in student government or leadership.

This queer legally blonde retelling is compulsively readable and so much fun. True to the original story, Blaine learns about friendship and self-worth--that you can be seriously creative and fun-loving. The side characters were so wonderful and fleshed out--I especially loved Blaine's aunt Starr!

If you're looking for something that's a quick read, fun, and queer, I highly recommend this one!

How far will Blaine go to become student council ? Blaine wants to win badly to prove to his ex that he can be serious. Is he willing to risk changing what he loves about himself in order to win? This book is cute, but predictable. I liked the high stakes in it. It reminded me of a mix between Made in Korea and Not Here to Be Liked.

BLAINE FOR THE WIN by Robbie Couch is the gay, teen, Legally Blonde-inspired book we needed. High school junior and mural painter, Blaine, gets dumped by his hyper-successful senior boyfriend, Joey, on their one-year anniversary. The reason: Joey's parents insist he date someone more serious. Thus, Blaine decides to run for senior class president to win back Joey's heart, enlisting his best friends and a cute but prickly boy to help him with his campaign. Though he's running for all the wrong reasons, has no experience, and is pitted against the junior class's golden boy, Blaine might be just what his school needs and might just find what he really needs along the campaign trail.

Told with a healthy dose of hilarity and heart, BLAINE FOR THE WIN is totally charming and a breezy, comforting read. The characters are vibrant, and the writing is snappy. The story is fast-paced, which fits the tone of the book but occasionally means that a good amount of action happens off the page and gets summarized on the page. I wouldn't have minded if the book were a bit longer to further develop the character relationships, particularly Blaine's and Danny's. The story also feels somewhat disjointed, almost like the first half was setting up a different ending than the one we got. Still, it has a lot of charm and wit. The author clearly has talent, and I hope his next book allows some more room for plot and character development.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this to review! Loved this sophomore novel from Robbie Couch! What Robbie does best is on display in his novel, characters. His character development and bringing characters to life is top notch. While this novel was predictable, I didn't care because I feel in love with every single one of his characters. While it wasn't a perfect novel, this uplifting narrative is full of heart and a great YA read.

I couldn’t put down BLAINE FOR THE WIN and finished it in two sittings. The vibe of it reminds me of TJ Klune’s THE EXTRAORDINARIES but without superpowers.

Blaine Bowers (~16, achillean) cannot believe he got dumped by Joey Oliver (gay). On their one-year anniversary. At the fanciest restaurant ever. Joey said he didn’t want to date the mural painter who isn’t the kind of Serious Guy he needs to become President of the United States one day. Blaine will win him back by showing that he can ditch his mural painting gigs and be serious... by signing up to run for senior class president? Enlisting the help of his best friends Trish MacIntosh (sapphic, Black) and Camilla (sapphic) as well as the not-friend-only-acquaintance Danny Nguyen (bi, Vietnamese American) for an insider perspective from the student council, Blaine is ready to prove himself to be worthy of Joey. As the race kicks off, is winning Joey back still going to be Blaine’s goal?

First of all, BLAINE FOR THE WIN has a great cast that includes cute supporting sapphics, in addition to lots of achilleans. And I mean LOTS of achilleans, which we love to see. This book is YA and tackles a lot of Messy Teenage Feels. Blaine is not the perfect boy and he messes up sometimes. Okay, a lot, but he is learning how to not quit on things and holding onto his passion. Sure, he probably didn’t get enough retaliation of all the mistakes he made, but I did get nervous and worried for him throughout the book, which is saying something about the realness of Couch’s storytelling.

The supporting cast is wonderful. Trish is amazing, and at one point, I wondered if she would become that BIPOC character who is just there to support the white main character without having her own story, but I think Couch did a pretty good job at giving her agency and power, too (you have to finish the whole book though). Camilla is mainly there to support Trish as the dinosaur-loving girlfriend. And Danny, the plant-loving sweet boy Danny. Even though his backstory was mentioned pretty early on in the book, I felt emotional, too.

There are little to no homophobia in BFTW and many achillean characters that I am sure would mean a lot to young readers. I love that there are beautiful family relationships: Blaine and his aunt Starr, Danny and his father Bao, and even Zach Chesterton (the egotistical but popular candidate, also achillean) and his parents. And while the Olivers are not as great, their issues have nothing to do with Joey being gay, either. Another plus side is that Blaine’s dog Fudge did not gradually disappear as the story went on (I find it very common that fictional pets just sort of fades into the background when the story is not centered around animals).

As much as I liked the book, it did bother me a little that one character felt out-of-character toward the end, which was plot-convenient. But it didn’t hinder my enjoyment by much.

BFTW is a mostly light-hearted story about the disaster queer that is Blaine, but it also touches upon some heavier topics like mental health and grief and unemployment. Overall, this book is a winner, and I’m already looking forward to future books by Couch.

[content warnings: talks about mental health, anxiety, loss of family member (side character), unemployment]

This book is ADORABLE and I could not put it down... I loved Blaine and his friends and their adventures in this novel! They are all so memorable and I will remember this book for a long time! I loved the message to never give up on what you love and do not change yourself for anyone!

This was a great little YA novel about anxiety, and it’s really a coming of age novel and less about a romance. It’s cute, it’s fun, it’s a great afternoon or weekend read. Four stars.

Yeah, this one wasn't for me. It wasn't bad necessarily, there weren't any glaring issues with it. It just wasn't a book I found compelling.

And I think the main reason for that was how unrealistic this was. Might be because i go to a small school, but none of this would've happened. Student council members never would've been allowed to count votes for student council positions. Possible presidents never would have to do a schoolwide debate. Again, might be because I go to a teeny school, but it didn't mesh with my idea of student council at all. And as someone in student council, this really threw me out of the book.

On top of that, I just didn't like Blaine as a character. He wasn't a "bad" character by any means. In fact, he should've been perfectly loveable. He just wasn't for me. He was bland. He was too fluffy, too cute. He was too much of a people person, and even his bad decisions didn't affect him.

I really expected to love this one, but that's not the way things ended up happening. It just wasn't my type of book

Thanks to Netgalley for providing

A queer Legally Blonde.. and I LOVED!

This is my first Robbie Couch and I am here for it and whatever he writes. Blaine Bowers is in his senior year and is putting his hat into the running for class president. Especially after being dumped and told he needs to be more serious, what a better way to show he can be that by winning. And what better way with his exes new boyfriend also running. I mean a little competition never hurt anyone. But Blaine is a creative artsy type, can he really be the serious type?

I loved the characters and Blaine’s friends. This story deals with real issues that happen in school and life. It’s lighthearted and funny in the right ways, while also tackling the heavy issues. I just want to grab Blaine and cuddle him.

What a precious, wholesome story about heartbreak, discovering yourself, and the power of friendship. From the get-go, characters are fully realized and easy to love (or loathe, in some cases). Blaine is an artsy junior in high school who is going on his 1 year anniversary date with his senior class president boyfriend, and before they even start eating, he gets dumped for not being serious enough. Blaine comes up with a plan to run for student council to prove that he is a serious guy, and to win his bf back.

Blaine is such a dang sweetheart. He just wants his life to go back to normal, and wants to prove that he deserves that. (And trust me, within like, 3 chapters you will believe that he deserves so much more.) Read this is you love YA characters discovering themselves, characters who talk about mental health in a kind and not-too-heavy way, and stories where the main character is just a tootie who sometimes makes poor decisions but has a pure heart!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book!

This is such a cute, feel-good story. I absolutely sped through it. It's basically a queer, high-school version of Legally Blonde full of friendship, romance, humor, and little heartwarming moments (also some great Elle Woods references sneak their way in. Blaine is a fun, artistic kid who gets dumped for not being "serious," leading to a last-minute run to be his school's class president. While at first he feels in over his head and experiences a few mishaps, throughout the novel he discovers more about himself and is able to build his self-confidence with the help of some pretty amazing friends. I love that the story is just light-hearted and fun to read, while also touching on the important topic of mental health. I think many people will read this and find things to relate to. And if you just want a rom-com of a book that will make you smile when you're through, this one is definitely it!

I loved all the characters in this story. Blaine is such a fun protagonist to follow. His personality reminds me of a puppy. He's a little bit of a nervous kid but can also get really excited, and when he's sad you want to wrap him up in cuddles. Luckily, he has friends that will also kidnap him from his bed (literally) when he starts to mope a little too much. A book is great when not only the protagonist is interesting, but the friends are unique and fun with their own backgrounds, and we've got a sweet but slightly snarky love interest as well.

I also love the very relatable way mental health is portrayed through out. Whether it's dealing with anxiety, low self-esteem, depression history, or grief, these teenagers realistically demonstrate some of the mental health challenges teenagers face. There's a whole mental health initiative brought up throughout the story, and it's something I would love to see more of in real life.

Thank you to Simon Teen and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Robbie Couch has done it again! Blaine for the Win is another phenomenal book! This heartfelt, joyous book shows you that you really can do anything and you're allowed to continue to find yourself, even when other people are telling you that you're fine as you are. I felt such a connection to Blaine and his need to please everyone else. His ability to be who he is, and his desire to want to change for people to like him was relatable. I was enthralled by the witty banter and snappy prose that Couch crafted. Blaine for the Win is an absolute WIN in my book!

Inspired by Legally Blonde, Blaine For the Win is a cute enough queer YA contemporary. Blaine is generally likable and easy to root for, while his best friend Trish and her girlfriend Camille provide for some great back-and-forth dialogue. However, the romantic plot between Blaine and his love interest felt incredibly forced. There was essentially no chemistry between the two and I honestly felt like I had missed a crucial turning point in their relationship when I actually hadn’t. ⁣
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While the narrative was pretty predictable (especially if you’re familiar with Legally Blonde), there were a couple plot points that had me genuinely surprised, which I enjoyed. Despite this being a fun and quick read, I’m resigned to give Blaine For the Win three stars. I appreciated the focal points of mental health and self love, but there were too many times when character motivations and responses made little sense. A couple characters were somewhat well developed, but the majority of them felt extremely flat, which was unfortunate. ⁣
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Thanks so much to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.